1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to conduits. Specifically, the present invention relates to repairing and/or reinforcing conduits.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern utility companies provide resources to end-users. The resources may include energy or power, communications capability or even water. The various resources are communicated from the utility company to the end-user through infrastructure. The infrastructure may include conduits to protect the power lines, the communications lines or to carry the water. The conduits or piping are typically referred to as a utility conveyance or utility conduit. Further, piping may be placed within the conduits or the duct. The piping placed within an outer duct or conduit may be referred to as an inner conduit.
During the installation of a utility conduit, a trench is prepared for housing the conduit. The conduit is then positioned in the trench. Once the conduit is in place, the utility lines such as power lines or communications lines are pulled through the conduit from one termination point to another. The conduits are then covered or buried within the trench.
The conduit may be damaged during installation or after installation. For example, the conduit may be placed in the trench prior to pulling the utility lines through the conduit. As a result, dirt and debris such as rocks may impact the conduit and cause damage to the conduit. After the utility lines have been placed in the conduit and the trench is covered, damage may still occur to the conduit from forces bearing down from above. Once again this may cause damage to the utility conduit.
Working utility inner conduits, such those used to collocate fiber optic cable strands, are housed in a variety of ducts to protect them from the harsh earth environments in which they are installed. Quite often they are housed in flexible conduit such as manufactured from PVC or Polyethylene. This affords easy installation of the inner conduit and protects it from compromising conditions stemming from unstable soil, rights of way bearing heavy traffic and areas deemed by cable engineers as stress ridden. The installation of the inner conduit is very costly, both in time and money. Consequently, it is imperative that the integrity of the conduit be maintained at all times and that damages to the flexible conduit be properly repaired.
As mentioned previously, once the conduit is placed in a trench prepared therefor, damage to a section of the conduit can occur before or after the inner conduit is laid. In either case, the damaged section of the conduit must be replaced to ensure its viability for protecting the inner conduit from the harsh environment. Should the damage precede laying of the inner conduit, replacement of the damaged section may be required to eliminate any bends or kinks which would interfere with passing the inner conduit through the utility conduit.
The conventional method for repairing a damaged section of a conduit is to remove the damaged section by splicing and replace it with a new piece of matching conduit. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 display how this is done. As shown in FIG. 1, a flexible conduit 100 has a working utility inner conduit 102 consisting, for example, of fiber optic cable strands. FIG. 1 displays that conduit 100 has sustained damage in a section generally shown by reference numeral 104.
FIG. 2 displays the present method for repairing the damaged section of a conduit. In FIG. 2, damaged section 104 has been removed by splicing, leaving inner conduit 102 unaffected. A new section 200 having the same diameter and length has replaced the damaged section 104 of FIG. 1. New section 200 is inserted between the adjoining undamaged sections 202 of conduit 100 by slitting the conduit 100 lengthwise and placing the new section 200 around the exposed inner conduit 102. New section 200 is affixed to the adjoining undamaged sections 202 of flexible conduit 100 using duct tape 204 or some other fastening mechanism such as glue, etc.
The conventional method for repairing a damaged section of a flexible conduit is simple, but very unreliable. First, it does not provide any rigidity where the new section 200 is joined to the adjoining undamaged sections 202 of the conduit 100 with tape 204. Thus, the new section 200 is subject to collapse from the pressure of the dirt when ground cover is placed on top of the conduit 100. The ground cover does not only put pressure on the inner conduit 102, but it would also allow debris to find its way into the inner conduit 102, thereby jeopardizing its utility and integrity for future use.
Thus, a more effective method and apparatus for repairing and reinforcing a section of conduit is needed.
The present invention comprises a system and method for repairing a conduit by bridging two sections of the conduit with a bridging duct. A pair of couplers is employed to mate the bridging duct with the two sections of the conduit. First, the couplers are mated to their respective sections of the conduit. Thereafter, the bridging duct is mated with the couplers and fastened using a clip or sealing mechanism.
In one embodiment, the bridging duct has a slit along its length and opposing walls along the slit. The opposing walls along the slit create a reliable seal for affording rigidity and serve as a barrier to debris once the bridging duct is in place. Clips and adhesive are used to effect the seal by bringing the opposing walls together.
The bridging duct is affixed to the adjoining undamaged sections of the conduit through a pair of couplers, each having two coupling sections, the first for placing around one of the adjoining undamaged sections of the conduit and the second for allowing the bridging duct to be placed around it by opening the duct along its slit. In this embodiment, each coupler is of unitary construction with a slit along its length and a central rib separating its two coupling sections with a hinge opposite the slit, which allows the coupler to open and close along the slit.
In another embodiment, the repair system comprises a bridging duct linking the two sections of the conduit and a pair of couplers having two coupling sections, one mating with its respective section of the conduit and the other mating with the bridging duct.
In one method of the present invention, a bridging duct and a pair of couplers are used for repairing a conduit by mating each coupler with a different section of the conduit and mating the bridging duct with each coupler.
A conduit repair system is presented. A conduit includes two sections. The conduit repair system comprises a bridging duct linking the two sections of the conduit; and a pair of couplers each having an inner coupling section and an outer coupling section, the pair of couplers each mating with the bridging duct and the two sections of the conduit, the outer coupling section of each pair of the couplers mating with one of the two sections of the conduit and the inner coupling section of each pair of the couplers mating with the bridging duct.